Birth of a New Hope
by Moonscribe
Summary: Amidala makes a supreme sacrifice. Just my little take on the birth of Luke and Leia


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This is a fanfic I wrote early last year. I don't know what's going to happen in Episode II, so I don't know how accurate it is in light of what will take place in Episode II. Just my little version of the birth of a new hope.

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Title: The Birth of A New Hope

By: Moonscribe

Rated: G

Disclaimer: All characters are owned by LucasArts and affiliates and no infringement is intended by this story. This story is purely for entertainment purposes only and no profit is made by its creation. 

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"I have no memory of my mother." Luke Skywalker from Return of the Jedi

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Amidala fell back onto her pillows with a deep sigh. Tendrils of damp hair clung to her forehead. She turned her head. Her handmaidens were clustered around the crib. _Twins, _she thought. They were not unexpected, but the reality was still too wonderful to comprehend. A son and a daughter. 

The door to Amidala's chamber in the palace of Bail Organa on Alderaan opened and Sabé, Amidala's most trusted handmaiden, entered. When she reached Amidala's bedside, she touched Amidala gently on her arm. 

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Tired, but happy," Amidala replied. "I only wish Anakin----."

Sabé took Amidala's hand and squeezed it, her eyes brimming with understanding and sympathy. 

"Obi-Wan Kenobi is waiting outside."

Amidala's eyes widened at that. 

"So soon," she murmured. "Let him in, Sabé."

Sabé walked to the door leading to the outer hallway. She opened it and motioned to the guard standing outside. The guard stepped aside and Obi-Wan Kenobi strode into the room, Sabé trailing behind him.

When he reached Amidala's bed he bowed.

"Congratulations, Amidala, on the birth of your children."

"Thank you, General Kenobi."

Obi-Wan glanced over to the crib where the handmaidens stood guard over the newborns. They watched him with wary expressions. 

"May I see them?" he asked.

Amidala motioned to Sabé who went to the crib and picked up one of the babies. Eritaé took up the other one and the handmaidens walked over to Obi-Wan. Sabé pulled back the blanket of the child she held.

"Her name is Leia," Amidala said. 

Obi-Wan peered down into the little face. Leia's dark eyes were open. She gazed quietly back at Obi-Wan.

Eritaé moved next to Sabé and unexpectedly placed the baby she held into Obi-Wan's arms. The Jedi was startled, but quickly recovered. There were tears in Eritaé's eyes when she stepped back.

"And his name?" he asked Amidala.

"Luke," she replied. 

Obi-Wan looked down at the baby sleeping in his arms. He was fairer than his sister with wisps of golden hair on his tiny head. 

"Luke," he repeated softly. He held the baby a moment longer then gave him back to Eritaé.

Unshed tears filled Amidala's voice. "Where will you take him?"

Obi-Wan moved closer to Amidala's bed. He leaned over and spoke softly. 

"I know a place where he will be safe. Trust me. It's best that you not know yet." 

"I've tried so hard to understand why they must be separated," Amidala said.

Obi-Wan nodded. "I know it is difficult---."

"Difficult?, "Amidala said bitterly. "What do you know of difficult, General Kenobi. You Jedi, with your plans within plans. It's because of you that we lost Anakin. Now you want to take away my son. I want so much to hate you."

She stared up at Obi-Wan, tears shimmering in her dark eyes.

Obi-Wan nodded, but said nothing. He stood up, stepped back from the bed and bowed again. 

"Contact me when he's ready. I'll be in Organa's chamber." 

He turned and left the room.

Amidala waited until the door closed behind Kenobi. She then let the tears she had been holding back flow down her face. 

Sabé rushed to Amidala's side. She took her into her arms. As Sabé held the weeping Amidala, Luke woke up at the sound of his mother's crying and began to wail. Soon, his sister joined him and, for a time, Amidala's chamber in her wing in the palace of Bail Organa on the planet of Alderaan was filled with cries of anguish and loss.

----

Bail Organa poured pale green Alderaan wine from a Sarkasian crystal decanter into two gold goblets. He handed one to Obi-Wan who was sitting in one of the bluewood chairs, his knee high boots crossed at the ankles, his Jedi robe on the chair's back.

Bail lifted his goblet in a toast. 

"To Amidala, surely one of the most beautiful of women. And to her children, Luke and Leia. Our hope for the future." 

Bail drained the wine from his goblet, but noted that Obi-Wan took only a sip of his. He watched as Obi-Wan placed his goblet down on a table to his right.

"Straight to business, eh, Obi-Wan?," Bail asked.

Obi-Wan nodded. "I'm afraid so. I can't stay long. As soon as I got your message about the birth, I came as quickly as I could, but there is other business I must attend to."

"Then you truly mean to take the children away so quickly?" Bail shook his head, poured more wine into his goblet. "That seems very cruel, Obi-Wan. Amidala has suffered so much in such a short time."

"Yes, but it cannot be helped. There is a possibility the Emperor may already know about the twins. We can only hope he does not, but the longer we delay, the more likely it is he will discover them."

"And Anakin?" Bail asked. 

Obi-Wan winced at the name. 

"What of him?" he asked.

"Do you truly believe he has not sensed the birth of his own children?"

Obi-Wan took a deep breath. "I don't know, Bail. Anakin did not even know Amidala was pregnant when he turned. We must act under the assumption he has not sensed them." 

"What are you planning to do?" Bail asked.

Obi-Wan leaned forward, his hands clasped before him. 

"Luke will come with me. I've already discussed this with Amidala. I will take him someplace safe. Leia is not as strong in the Force as her brother, but I think it best that she also be hidden." 

Obi-Wan paused and took a deep, weary breath. He leaned back in his chair. Bail noted that Obi-Wan had aged considerably since he'd last seen him. There were streaks of white in the Jedi's beard and in the hair alongside his temple and the lines that radiated from his eyes were deeper and darker. 

"I do not wish to cause Amidala any more pain," Obi-Wan continued. "Leia will remain here on Alderaan. But you, Bail, must raise her as your own daughter. No one must know of her true parentage."

Bail smiled. "It will certainly please my wife to discover she now has a daughter. She has wanted one for so long." 

Bail's smile slipped away and he frowned. 

"But, will Amidala go along with this? To be unable to publicly acknowledge Leia as her own? To watch her being raised by another?"

Obi-Wan stood up. His eyes were hard and his gaze bored into Bail's.

"She has no choice."

Bail's frown deepened. "You assume much, old friend."

"I know. But Amidala is well aware of the demands and the sacrifices that are required."

"She's lost much, Obi-Wan; her world, her husband. Now, you ask her to give up her children." Bail shook his head. "I fear you go too far this time, old friend."

Obi-Wan took a step towards Bail and gripped the older man's arm.

"I have already gone too far. There is no turning back now. Amidala is not a ordinary woman. She understands that, in her head, if not in her heart. And it is her head that must rule, not her heart."

Bail nodded and placed his hand over Obi-Wan's and grasped it. 

"Yes, but remember, Obi-Wan, it is the heart that can hate." 

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Amidala smiled down at Luke as he nursed at her breast. She knew Kenobi had left instructions with Sabé that Amdiala not be allowed to nurse, fearing it would only make the parting to come that more difficult, but Amidala did not care. 

She would hand her only son over to the Jedi because she knew what was at stake, but she would not let him take away from her the memory of this precious moment, of holding her son close to her, of smelling his sweet baby scent, of gently rubbing her cheek against the soft down of his tiny head. 

She hummed softly, an old nursery song from her childhood. A soft rose-tinted light filled the windows of her chamber. In her crib near the window, Leia now slept, her stomach full. 

Thinking of Leia, Amidala recalled Obi-Wan and Bail's plan that Leia be raised as an Organa. Amidala had nearly screamed when Bail had told of her it. She had wanted to release her carefully controlled feelings, had wanted to shout at Bail, to demand to know from him and Kenobi how much more did they want her to give, how much more did they think she could bear. 

But she had not. Because she knew she had no choice but to agree to their plan so that neither the Emperor, nor the creature who had once been her husband--her love--could take her children away and twist them to their dark purposes. 

The door to her chamber opened and Sabé glided in. She moved next to Amidala's bed. In her arms was a creche filled with wrappings and blankets, a hooded robe and other nursery things. She showed the creche to Amidala.

"I have prepared everything as you requested."

"Thank you, Sabé." Amidala lifted Luke and handed him to her. "Here, take him. He's finished."

Sabé placed the creche on the floor next to the bed and took Luke from Amidala's arms. While Amidala adjusted her gown, Sabé carefully lifted Luke to her shoulder and rubbed his back.

"Is General Kenobi outside?" Amidala asked.

"Yes."

"Then let us be about it. There isn't much time."

Amidala swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. She took the robe Eritaé offered her and wrapped it snugly about her waist. Sabé quickly swaddled the now sleeping Luke into the hooded robe. Amidala noted Sabé was trying very hard to disguise her crying, but Amidala could hear her sniffles and she saw the tears stealing along the edges of her handmaiden's eyes.

The other handmaidens bustled about the chamber. Amidala walked over to one of the bluewood chairs and sat in it. She motioned for Sabé to sit in the chair next to her, Luke still in her arms. Amidala carefully adjusted her gown. 

Amidala nodded to Eritaé and the handmaiden ran to the door. She opened the door and motioned for Obi-Wan to enter. 

Obi-Wan walked in, then stopped two paces before Amidala's chair. He bowed.

Amidala turned and took Luke from Sabé's arms. She then stood and placed him in Obi-Wan's arms. She lifted her chin and looked up into his eyes. 

"I give to you, Obi-Wan Kenobi, my only son, Luke Skywalker. I charge you to watch over him and protect him with your life. It is my heart you hold. Do not fail me in this.""

Obi-Wan gazed down into Amidala's eyes. Her use of the word fail was like a dagger to his soul. For he had failed, hadn't he? Failed her, failed Anakin, failed the Jedi Order and the Republic. Obi-Wan's pride and arrogance had brought them all to this moment, where he was forced to tear this child away from the arms of his mother. 

Yet, even now, Amidala still trusted him to do right by her son. As he looked down into the dark, beautiful, haunted eyes of the woman who stood before him, small, but strong; frail, but imperious, Obi-Wan swore in his heart that this time he would not fail her.

"I take up the charge you have placed upon me. And I swear I will guard your son with my life," he said solemnly

Amidala nodded. She reached out and gently drew the hood from Luke's head. Her hand cupped his tiny head and her fingers stroked his soft round cheek. 

"Goodbye, Luke," she whispered. "Grow strong, little one. Know that I will always love you. And if your father had known you, as I know you, he would have loved you too." 

She leaned over and gently kissed her baby's cheek. 

Straightening up, she then turned toward Sabé. 

"Accompany General Kenobi to his ship and assist him in preparing for his departure."

Sabé quickly gathered up the creche and waited for Obi-Wan near the door.

"I will contact you once Luke has been safely hidden," Obi-Wan said to Amidala.

Amidala only nodded. She was afraid to speak, afraid that instead of words, only howls of anguish would spill from her throat.

Obi-Wan turned, Luke in his arms and, with a swirl of his robes, walked quickly through the door, Sabé running alongside him to keep up with his long strides.

Amidala's remaining handmaidens rushed to her side, but Amidala waved them away. 

"I'm all right," she said. "Go about your duties." 

The handmaidens hesitated, but Amidala gave them all a soft smile. 

"Truly, I am fine. Luke will be safe. It is for the best."

She pushed her way gently through the press of them and walked over to the crib where her one remaining child slept the sleep of the innocent. 

"Leia," she whispered. "Oh, Leia, Luke is gone. Your brother is gone." 

She gently stroked Leia's cheek. Tears welled in Amidala's eyes and something hot and hard and dark lodged in her chest where her heart used to be. 

"They are all gone," she whispered. "They are all gone."

The End.


End file.
